Automobile direction indicator



S-SHEET 1.

RM rL=u Emw w. A. PERKINS.

AUIOMOBILE DIRECTION mmcmon. APPLICATION FILED JULY 7,1920- 1,412,195, Patgnted Apr. 11, 1922;;

' 3 SHEET fayw I j Q a mnw v om W. A. PERKINS. AUTOMOBILE DIRECTION INDICATOR.

I APPLICATION FILED JULY 7 1926.

1922 '3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

Patented Apr. 11,

VIIIIIII/I/IIII/III/LI/I/ W. A. PERKINS.

AUTOMOBILE DIRECTION INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 7,1920,

Patented A r. 11, 1922'.

- 3 SHEETS SHEET 3- HMMH -ir.

' .ishowing how this-invention can be appliedtheretoat thefrontfandrear;

stallations e i hed! UNITED stares PATE f.

WILL iS aamnrnns, or WoRo Es T R, MASSACHUSETTS.

To. all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, lVI Lrs A. PERKINS, a citizen of the United States, residing at \V'orcester, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts. have invented a new and useful Automobile Direction Indicator, of which the following is a specification. I

This invention relates 'toa device for application to an automobile or other vehicle for signalling or indicating i t-s course.

The principal objects of; the invention are ,to provide a simple and improved device which canbe operated conveniently from a point near the. steering Wheel wvhich can be so arranged asto be-illuminated at night, which. can beapplied at the front and rear of the car, the. two parts of the device so located being operatedsimultaneously from one source. 0t control, andespecially 'todo.

away with all gearing and other complicated and; expensive operating connections. The lnventron also involves various-features of construction and combinations of parts as will appear.

Referenceis. to be had to. the. accompanying drawings in which? is 3 Fig. '1 1s a s de vlewof an automobile Fig; 2- is'. anselevationof one of the inin'section;

.Fig. 8 is a sectionalizienr of the casing on theline 88o Fig 6;-

r Fig. 9, is a longitudinal centrals'e ctionalview of one of the indicating devices on;

,Fi'g." 10'is. alsectional view of .th e I -same lonethe line -l0...10 of Fig. '9

Fig. '1- is an inside elevation of the end rise W ic nppq it e ill lminefil e 'v1ce; II I Y F 1g., 12 1s a view of the interiorof'thej devlce with 'the outer cas ng removed;

I umn, a-transmittingelement.jB'and two in and provided with words orcharacters, ra-

- whi oh the car maybe. causedto. take.

which is fixed to a shaft- 21; parallel With a casing 23 having, a cover .241 removably secured thereon. and the shaft-is provided ing: a} wire-2610i other flexible connection.

fI heturningoftheshatt 21 Winds upithis, .wireon one side of the. Wheel and letsit out i thgeti e ii ieat s 'andi l AUTOMOBILE DIRECTION INDICATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patgnted Afp lli 1922, Application filed July 7, 1920. Serial No. 394,496. i I

Y Fig- 13 is a sectional vieW'on the "line I 13,, 13 of Fig. 12; I I

Fig. ltis an inside view of the end piece supporting the spring for actuating the indicator, and

Fig. 15. is an end View otthe oscillator disc at the same. end.

r Y The invention is shown as involving a controller A-mounted on the steering coldicators C and D respectively. In general, it may be said that the" controller A is ereret y. hand y h Operator he car. Itis located in convenient position With respect. to the steering Wheelffor that purpose. jltturns the transmitting device B w c way .1. met r ho r tu e operates both the indicators IC and so as tO shQW fron the front offthe indicator-,1? andat the; rear from. the indicator C'the course. Which the car going to take.

M ore in. detail, thec'ontrollerv A comprises a stationarysector 12Yn 1ounted on the steering column lt) under the steering Wheel ll dially arranged; and, indicatingthe'actions This sector 12-is providedwith. notches 13 for receiving aprojection 14; on a lever I .8 '5 ating; it and a pointerl? for indicating the proper Word on the sector. This lever is I I This lever; has a press button 16; for operpivoted on a stud 18 mounted on an; oscillatable arm l9; connec-ted'with,a collar'20 the steering column 10. u r I I Itwill be obvious that theoperator'can lift the projection 14 out of its' notch 'ptcssing on the button 16 and swinging the arm 19 around into any desired position-to. .sho vv the. course he intends the car to take. I This turns the shaft 21 correspondingly. V

The shaft' ll-has fixed to it at thebottom a transmittingwheel 22. This is locatedi'n with collars 28; fitting. accurately-in the easi-ng so as to avoidlost-motion-Vjy This. Wheel i ripm d f i gro v 5' 0r' receivatv the other. This jwire; i sjencased in jaj :fleXib1ecoil27 n b th sides and they-extend thereon, its end being secured thereto.

on therotating disc 45.

Each of these indicators comprises a stationary shell of metal or other opaque materal, but having an opening provided with a transparent pane31 of celluloid, glass, or the like, located in-the front of the indicator D and in the rear of the indicator C. This is to expose the signal to be given. The casing 30 is supported on two stationary end pieces 33 and 34 which are fixed on uprights 35 preferably mounted on the front and rear mud-guards and on the left side of the machine. The end plate33 is provided with a passage 36 for wires 37 which pass into the plate and through a central tube 38 therein to an electric lamp 39 or a series of them as may be desired. These parts are obviously supported in stationary position. This plate 33 as well as the other end plate 34 is provided with a flange 40 to which the casing 30 is riveted or otherwise secured.

Mounted on a bearing 41 on the center of the plate 83 is a rotary disc 42 which carries an annular disc 43 that rotates with it. At the other end the end piece 34 carries a central shaft or stud 44 on which is centered and rotatably mounted a disc 45. These tw members 43 and 45 carry a series of longitudinal rods 46 and constitute with them an oscillatable frame-work. These rods carry upon them a sheet47 of material.

on which appear the several words, designs or characters needed to indicate the proposed action of the car, as for example, the words Straight, Stop; Right,-Left,

and Back, the same words that are shown and used on the controller A. The material "of which the sheet 47 is made is preferably translucent, so that the words appearing in opaque characters will show up clearly. in the night. These characters can be of different color from the sheet so as to show up well in the day time. I prefer also to provide a red. background on the sheet 47 behind the word Stop for example, to indicate danger. This sheet 47 can be made of cloth. celluloid, or other material, and it may be either flexible or rigid.

This indicator therefore is to be operated from the wire 26 which comes into the casing as above described and enters a' groove 49 on the disc 45, and is partly wound up On the stationary stud 44 is an operating spring 50, one end being secured 'to this stud. The other end is secured to a stud 51 mounted The parts are so set originally that when the whole indicator isturned ov'erto the last/point the spring will be wound up and it will act to turn it back automatically wheneverthe wire 26 is =allowed to move in that direction,

'tion of the indicator is limited by two stops 53 and 54" on the disc 45 and'two stops 55 The m0- and 56 on the end piece 34. The indicator is allowed to turn substantially all the way around, but not to start on a second rotation in either direction.

It will be understood that the two indicators C and Dare alike except that in a sense they are rights and lofts. When the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 4 with the controller indicating that the car is to go to the right, both of the indicators are partly unwound and both of them indicate the word Right. Now the controller arm is turned around to the point indicating Straight for example, which is at the extreme right hand end of the controller. The wire 26 passing to one of the indicators is wound up and that causes that indicator to turn to expose the word Straight, but the wire to the other indicator is at the same time being unwound and allowed to move back in the other direction. That also exposes the word Straight. In other words, the order of the words on the two indicators is reversed but they both always of course indicate the same thing. The operation of the device has been described in the course 90 of the description of the parts and need not be specified again.

Although I have illustrated and described only a single form of the invention I'am aware of the fact that many modifications can be made therein by any person skilled in the art without departing fromthe scope of the invention as expressed in the claims.

Therefore I do not wish to be limited to all the details of construction herein shown and described, but what I do claim is 1. In a device of the character described, the combination with a vehicle, of two stationary casings located at thelfront and rear, over each wheel, a rotary member inside each casing provided with indicating charactersarranged in series on each one but in opposite relation to each other, two flexible connections, each connected to actuate one of said rotary members, and means 110 for moving both of said flexible connections in the same direction for simultaneously moving the two rotary members in opposite directions.

2. In a device of the character described, 115 the combination of the steering column and mudguard of an automobile, with a sector located on the steering column andhaving indicating'characters spaced apart around it. a, movable member adapted to register fixed to the shaft and the other to that disc,

means for oscillating the latter named disc,

a series of rods extending between said discs at equal distances from the center and constltutlng with said discs an oscillatable frame, a flexible covering passing around said rods and having a plurality of flat sides on which direction signals are located,

said casing having an opening for exposing 1 one of said direction signals at a time. 7

whereof I have hereunto In testimony afiixed my signature. 7

' WVILLIS A. PERKINS. 

